Project Summary We are requesting funds to support the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association (AGE) to be held at the Monona Terrace, Madison WI from June 19th to June 21st in conjunction with the Nathan Shock Centers for Excellence in Aging two-day meeting to be held at the same venue from June 17th to 18th. This meeting is one of the premier meetings for biogerontological research and is the only annual meeting sponsored by a professional membership organization devoted to the basic biology of aging in the United States. The meeting focus is on the Metabolism of Aging . Dr. Rozalyn Anderson, President of AGE, together with the AGE Program Committee (Drs. Joe Baur, Holly Brown Borg, Weiwei Dang, Dudley Lamming, Ben Miller, and Ashley Web), Session Chairs, and the AGE Executive Board have organized the scientific program. The overall objective is to convene scientists and trainees from multiple disciplines in a forum for presentation and critical debate of the latest discoveries in aging research and to stimulate forward thinking and collaboration among participants. Funds are requested to help cover travel expenses of 1) invited speakers and 2) meritorious junior scientists (students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty) who can benefit from exposure to the leaders of the field, present their research findings and receive feedback from experts in the field. The specific goals of this meeting are to assemble a broad-based forum of basic and clinical scientists to present the most recent findings that have potential for development of therapeutics that may enhance quality and length of healthy life; to encourage open discussion and debate; and provide opportunities for early stage investigators to present their work, explore career options, and interact with potential mentors and collaborators. The invited speakers include renowned as well as outstanding early career scientists, all of whom have been selected for the quality of their science and ability to stimulate debate. The theme Metabolism of Aging reflects the growing biomedical research literature that identifies metabolic dysfunction as a shared outcome in a host of age-related diseases and disorders and questions whether loss of metabolic integrity might be a potential causal factor in age-related disease vulnerability. Our goal is to translate mechanistic insight into therapeutic advance, emphasizing the tremendous translational potential of basic aging research as a means to design effective interventions to promote and protect healthy aging in people. Topics include high-profile studies of systems biology, RNA-based mechanisms, adipose tissue and lipid metabolism, metabolite profiling, chromatin remodeling, metabolism of brain aging, and stem cell maintenance. The pre-meeting is a summit of thought leaders organized by the Nathan Shock Centers through the coordinating center at AFAR. The symposia topics are translational, topical, and timely, and will stimulate discussion, promote collaborative endeavors, and accelerate the development of novel therapeutic targets.